1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to video communication, and more particularly, to a method of displaying interactive effects in web camera communication.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Chat programs, such as MSN Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, and AOL Instant Messenger, take advantage of a network connection between two or more devices to provide text, voice, and video chat communication between users of the devices. When available bandwidth was severely limited, most chat clients, such as those mentioned above, only offered text chat, with users sending text messages to each other that would be displayed in a chat window. However, as the available bandwidth has increased, and more users are equipped with broadband cable or DSL lines, the chat clients have begun offering display of emoticons and images, as well as transfer of files, such as documents and songs.
Although video chat has been available for many years, only recently have advances in video codecs, serial interfaces, and web camera technology allowed for widespread use of video chat. Further, as not only desktop and notebook personal computers are networked, but now mobile devices, such as PDAs and smartphones, are also able to establish network connections through GPRS or 802.11-type network adapters, video chat is growing in popularity, and is now widely available as a feature in the above-mentioned chat clients, as well as other chat clients.
As video chat increases in popularity and use, users may now add effects to their own video window, such as frames and borders, or hearts, stars, and kisses. However, there is a need to enhance interaction between users when chatting via a web camera.